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<P><B><A NAME="5.8"></A>5.8  Using the timetable editor</B></P>

<P>The editor is available from the 'Mode' menu, when a new timetable can be created or an existing timetable edited.  The service list on the left of the editor shows all entries, the program-readable part beginning with START and followed by service references or 'Comment' if the entry begins with '*'.  If this part ends with a blank line it is marked END.  Other entries are marked '-' or '+' for before or after the program-readable part, and contain the first few letters of the text. Services are shown and can be edited in the service entry panel on the right of the editor.
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<P>The buttons provided are hopefully self explanatory, and each has an associated hint, seen by hovering the mouse over it when it's active. </P>

<P> Cutting, copying and pasting of whole entries is quickly done using the buttons (or keyboard shortcut keys as set out in <a href="html\700.htm">section 7</a>, but note that pasting a copied entry does it directly below the highlighted entry, it is not to be used in conjunction with the 'Insert new entry' button.  More versatile copying, cutting, pasting and deleting is done using 'CTRL C', 'CTRL X', 'CTRL V' and 'Delete' respectively.  With these keyboard shortcut keys sections of an entry or whole entries can be cut, copied, pasted and deleted by highlighting the relevant section, then pressing 'CTRL X' to cut, 'CTRL C' to copy, 'CTRL V' to paste, or 'Delete' to delete.  'CTRL Z' can be used to undo any changes.  Pasting with CTRL shortcut keys can be done into new or different entries than those cut or copied from and they can be used in conjunction with the 'Insert new entry' button.  Note that buttons (or SHIFT shortcut keys - see <a href="html\700.htm">section 7</a>) and CTRL shortcut keys are NOT interchangeable.  For example a copy made with the 'Copy' button or SHIFT C can't be pasted using CTRL V.
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<P>Commas must not be used within services because commas are used internally by the timetable editor to separate the events in a service, and if extra ones are added then the events that they appear in will be split and will not be understandable to the editor.  The commas that separate the events are not visible.  Similarly semicolons are used to separate the components of each event, and they must not be used for any other purpose within services.  Semicolons are of course visible so their presence is clearer.  Commas and semicolons may be used freely outside services, i.e. in text preceding the start time, in text following all services, and in comments between services.</P>

<P>When adding services it is often helpful to copy an earlier service, then modify it, for example by changing service references, and adding or subtracting minutes using the 'Add mins' and 'Sub mins' buttons with the number of minutes in the white box (these change affect all time values in the entry by the same amount).  It is best not to use the HH:MM time format in any position other than as a legitimate service time, because if add or subtract minutes is used it changes every HH:MM time that it finds in the entry. </P>

<P>If a timetable is changed then it must be saved before it can be validated.  If a timetable is being developed from an earlier one and the original is to be retained, then the 'Save timetable as' option may be used to save it under a new name.</P>

<P>Some timetables extend to many services, when it can be difficult to find a particular service, for example if an error message relating to it is given.  To help in this respect a button is provided to list all services in alphabetical order.  A service that is selected in the service list and shown in the service entry panel when in alphabetical order will still be selected and shown when the original order is restored.  It is recommended to use alphabetical order to find services, and the original order to modify or correct them, particularly if comments had been inserted at specific points in the original order, because comments will all be located together in alphabetical order.  Care is needed in using this facility because changes made whilst in alphabetical order won't be saved if the original order is restored.  Of course if alphabetical order is preferred then by all means make changes using it, and save the timetable in that order.  Warning messages are given during use to help prevent losing changes that you may wish to keep.</P>

<P>Services can also be listed in time (chronological) order of train starting time using the 'Time Order' button.  This works similarly to alphabetical order in terms of saving entries and warnings during use. Trains are updated in the order in which they appear in the timetable, which isn't noticeable in normal circumstances, but if there are severe delays and several trains are waiting to enter the railway but can't because other trains are obstructing their entry, they will only enter in proper time order if the timetable is listed in time order.</P>

<P>It is not necessary to load a railway in order to edit its timetable, but it is necessary to have the railway loaded in order to validate the timetable from within the editor.  All timetables are validated prior to loading for operational use but for new or changed timetables it is better to check validity with the editor open so that changes may be made if necessary.  In order to use the list of railway locations from the timetable editor drop-down box it is necessary to have a railway loaded, but this may be in the form of either a '.rly' file or a '.dev' file, though only a .rly file will permit validation.  Note that loading a timetable for operational use and for editing are different activities, a timetable still has to be loaded in order to operate the railway after it has been edited and validated.  Note also that continuation names are for location identification when trains enter and exit the railway, they are not stopping locations.  For this reason continuation names must not be used in the timetable, the validation check will raise an error if they are.  Also for this reason the location name drop-down box in the timetable editor excludes continuation names.</P>

<P>See <A HREF="5.111w8h.htm">section 5.11</A> for some important aspects that will help to avoid errors.</P>

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